Billing itself as a “welcoming parish,” Church of the Magdalene, located in Pocantico Hills, is hosting several worship events this summer and fall in recognition and celebration of its founding in 1894. “Where some churches are closing and/​or merging, we remain open continuing to meet the spiritual needs of those who call the Magdalene their spiritual home,” said Edward Sudol, public relations director.

On Sunday July 21, a special “festive” mass will be held at 11:00 a.m., said Sudol, a parishioner for 20 years who has also sat on the parish council and been a lay trustee. The principal celebrant will be Father Tim Wiggins, pastor, and the guest homilist is former pastor Father John Vigilanti. “Also included will be other priests that have been associated with the Magdalene over the years. “We are encouraging all parishioners and their families to attend this mass,” he added.

The service will feature the talents of Music Director John Dominick, a vocalist, organist and conductor. A Louisiana native, he brings years of experience, including performances in Europe, to the position he accepted in 2022.

“I am passionate about using music to convey the message of faith and spirituality,” Dominick said. “Beyond my role as music director at The Magdalene, I am actively involved in parish life as a member of the parish council. This role allows me to contribute to decision-making processes that guide our community in faith and service.”

Life Center

After the mass, a celebratory lunch will be offered. Featured speaker will be Sister Susan Gardella, who serves as the executive director of The RSHM Life Center (Religious of the Sacred Heart of Mary), a Sleepy Hollow-based community center focused on education and social services. “She will speak on the long history the parish has shared with the Religious of the Sacred Heart (Marymount),” Sudol noted, adding that this relationship dates to the late 1880s. Life Center programming includes, Parents and Tots, English as a Second Language, Learning Labs After School, Friday Night Fever (teen club), Summer Fun Camp, and Smarty Saturday (enrichment). “We even have an immigration legal office to assist families. All programs reflect the philosophy that ‘Learning Is for Everyone’ at all stages of life. The goal is to help everyone the Center serves realize the potential that lies within,” Gardella said.

“The Church of the Magdalene is well known to the RSHM community, and a number of sisters attend mass there regularly and have served on different parish committees,” she added. “Since our earliest days the RSHM LIFE Center has been generously supported by the parish and many parishioners have served as volunteers and board members.”

Accepted, Loved and Respected 

Welcoming Catholics from 40-plus zip codes in Westchester County and beyond, the church’s credo reads: “No matter your status in the Catholic Church; No matter your family or marital situation; No matter your past or present; No matter your age, race, color or orientation, you are invited, welcomed, accepted, loved and respected.”

Among fervent supporters is Jeanne LiMarzi and her family who have been parishioners for 45 of the 130 years the church has been in operation.

“The LiMarzi family has been through many baptisms, communions, confirmations and two weddings,” she shared. “The Magdalene is truly a very special place for us. We were very lucky to be part of this warm community. It will always be our parish.”

Fellow parishioner Anne Kenny offered that the church is “filled with sacred music and surrounded by stained glass windows, guided by a pastor who reflects its welcoming embrace.” And Amy and John Bogusz added: “It’s a special and rare place of grace, warmth, and inspiration. The community is especially welcoming and kind. It feels like home.”

Along with the July 21 mass celebration, Sudol explained that “Mass on the Grass,” which takes place on the lawn adjacent to the church, will be held at 9:00 a.m. and 11:00 a.m. on the following Sundays: August 18, September 8 and October 13.

“This idea was provided by a parishioner who works at a Catholic college. Since my arrival, we held other events on the grass such as a wine and cheese reception, blessing of animals, and Corpus Christi procession,” Sudol said. “Having mass outside whether it is on the church’s property or at a park, allows us to go out onto the highways and byways and be ambassadors of the faith.”

As Sudol reflects on the last 130 years and looks forward, he said the church’s future is grounded in its past.  “The Church of the Magdalene has been blessed over the years with an abundance of dedicated pastors, as well as committed parishioners,” he said. “I hope and pray we will continue.”

The Church of the Magdalene parish may be just what parish council president David Impastato told CNY: “A hidden gem.”

“It’s a wonderful community of people,” said Impastato, 57, of the parish that just completed its 125th anniversary celebrations. “It’s in Pocantico Hills, which is not a well-known area (of Westchester County). It’s just a beautiful church with stained-glass windows and a painting above the altar. We have people who come from up to 12 communities to attend Mass.

“It’s a wonderful environment, very welcoming.”

The Church of the Magdalene has 550 families registered and a combined weekend attendance of 380 at three Masses—5 p.m. Saturday and 9 and 11 a.m. Sunday. The parish, which has an 8 a.m. Mass Monday through Friday, has grown a bit since Father John Vigilante was appointed administrator in 2016. There is also potential for additional growth, with more than 1,100 residential units being constructed near the parish along the Hudson River on land that was once a General Motors plant in Sleepy Hollow.

The religious education program enrolls 180 students, with Dorothy Meehan serving as director of religious education. The parish also maintains the records for sacraments administered at Westchester Medical Center and the Westchester County Jail.

Msgr. Joseph Reynolds, a retired priest of the archdiocese, is a weekend assistant, and Father Paul Tolve, director of pastoral care at Westchester County Jail, celebrates a weekend Mass each month.

Father Vigilante said the liturgy, music and homilies have parishioners exiting weekend Masses with a “good feeling” and a “message.”

Anne Holland, parish director of music, plays the organ at all weekend Masses, and she is accompanied at Sunday Masses by her husband, Jim Hughes, a Broadway musician, on the trumpet.

“I just find people easygoing here,” Father Vigilante said. “They enjoy coming here. They have a great devotion to the church itself, the building and history here. They relish that. You’re coming into a parish where people embrace the history of the parish and its presence. A number of them grew up in the Tarrytown area. To them, this is home.”

To celebrate its 125th anniversary, the parish held a dinner, anniversary concert, produced a journal, sold a commemorative ornament with Mary Magdalene at the feet of Jesus and welcomed Cardinal Dolan to celebrate Mass Nov. 23.

Since Father Vigilante became administrator, the parish has established an annual picnic as well as a monthly brunch following 11 a.m. Sunday Mass. The Sunday brunch averages 50 parishioners, and the first two parish picnics drew about 250 each.

“For the parish this size, it’s a great turnout,” said Father Vigilante of the picnic. “I think we will continue it. We held it in late September on the Hudson River. The weather was still warm and beautiful.”

The church opened in 1893 as a mission of St. Teresa of Avila parish, then in North Tarrytown and now in Sleepy Hollow. The Lyceum building was the site of Masses in those days.

The Church of the Magdalene became a parish in 1894 to serve the residents of Pocantico Hills and Eastview village. Construction began in 1894 for a church, which was dedicated in 1895.

Peggy Slaving, 80, joined the parish about 10 years ago when her husband Brian passed away and she needed spiritual assistance. A friend suggested she contact Father Joseph Dietz, pastor of the Magdalene at the time.

“They extended their hand to me when I needed religious help, and provided me with all the spiritual assistance I needed at the time,” she said. “They have a very dedicated group of parishioners and volunteers with a total commitment to the parish. It’s a very beautiful and prayerful place. The entire surroundings are very comfortable. It’s a special place.

“The thing I find great about Father John is he’s very welcoming. He doesn’t turn anybody away. He has a philosophy of even if you haven’t been to church for a while, you can always come home. It’s comforting to a lot of people who haven’t been to church for a while.”

Father Vigilante, who is planning to retire in 2021, said he’s enjoying his time in Pocantico Hills. “I’ve been very fortunate in my last assignment to have a parish like this,” he said.

The rectory of the Church of the Magdalene in Pocantico Hills, one village neighbor recently commented, used to be dark, but now all the lights are blazing. And the new pastor, the Rev. Timothy Wiggins, isn’t at all surprised. 

Father Tim, as he’s happy to be called, is a busy man, fully occupied with the pastoral role he took on in July 2022, growing his parish, which celebrated its 125th anniversary in 2019. “It’s a hidden gem,” he commented, “a really good parish with a strong multi-generational base and increasing numbers.” 

Father Tim’s appointment comes at a critical time in the Catholic Church. Demographic shifts and a vocation crisis have led to a shortage of priests, which in turn has necessitated the merging of some parishes, leaving pastors with outsize workloads and little help in the way of associates. 

The Church of the Magdalene is at risk of merging, but Father Tim’s arrival has signaled a turnaround. An additional 30 families have joined the parish since his arrival, the pews at service are at their fullest since Covid, and 10 new youth members have been added as altar servers. This youth community is also busy with outreach, including a Thanksgiving food drive and Christmas toy collection. It’s been an impressive and encouraging first six months.  

For the pastor, it’s also been a welcome return to Westchester where he has deep, abiding roots. Born in Valhalla, he was raised in Port Chester – and plans to be buried in Rye Brook, he revealed with a smile.  

Most African Americans follow either the Baptist or Methodist churches and Father Tim was very involved in the Methodist church from an early age. His grandmother hoped he would become a pastor. But the boy was intrigued by the nearby Catholic Our Lady of Mercy and in December 1976, at age 12, he attended his first Mass. “I felt like I was in heaven. The liturgy, the theology – it’s all very systematic. And I loved the rituals and the tradition, which served as my spiritual anchors.” 

He quickly became an active member of the church, an involvement that continued while he received a degree at Denver University’s School of Hotel and Restaurant, before returning to Port Chester while working for Marriott in the tristate area. Reconnecting with Our Lady of Mercy via a part-time job as parish cook, he eventually found his vocation and was invited into the seminary system in 1995. The priest and the parishioners, “They saw something in me. That invitation was a validation, and a conviction, and encouraged me to pursue my theological training.” 

Yet he put his vocation aside for five years, to care for his elderly grandmother, after which he immersed himself fully, preparing for the priesthood. Upon his ordination in 2002, Father Tim had many pastoral assignments including at St. John the Evangelist in White Plains where he spent “ten glorious years.” Then came the opportunity to be administrator in his home parish, at Our Lady of Mercy, where he enjoyed two years of significant progress, after which the church’s “making all things new” program intervened, realigning the parish to merge it with three others, leaving Father Tim without an assignment and his parishioners confounded. 

Eventually, he received an assignment teaching and assisting at other parishes, and eventually a pastorship at St. Charles in Harlem, the priest always guided by his founding commitment “to the people whom I come to serve and lead to Christ. That’s why I’m a priest to this day.” That belief, and obedience, supported him in difficult times, but the innercity ministry was a challenge.  

At Pocantico Hills, he can reconnect with his Westchester communities, with which he had never lost touch. Worshippers at Magdalene come from 12 different ZIP codes, proof of Father Tim’s undying relationships. “And the people here are wonderful and very collaborative.” They appreciate that he is a “younger” priest, a sign of investment versus rumors of possible merger. 

A systematic man, tall, energetic, approachable, engaged and engaging, Father Tim has perhaps found his safe harbor in Pocantico, after too many perplexing moves. Now he needs time to expand his parish, to defend it against dissolution. His commitment to the people in the pews is obvious and unwavering. Those rectory lights are unlikely to dim while he’s in residence.